Titans, Love, & A Really Bad Title
by Pokka
Summary: Titans will be slayed, soldiers shall fall, and somewhere in all this chaos love may be found. (Fem!Eren x Levi) (Ereri)


_That day, the human race remembered…the terror…of being dominated by __**them**__…and the shame…of being held captive in a birdcage._

* * *

_ "…there's no guarantee they won't break through the wall, like today, for example." Eren's head turned, bright green hues staring at the towering wall, just across the winding creek. Their so-called 'protection', it was bound to fail, just as Armin had suggested. Just as her head turned, her mouth opening to question the small blonde boy on something else, the ground rumbled. Not a light shake, not the feeling of two tectonic plates grinding over one another. No. This, this was the ground shattering feeling of a titan. The children scrambled to their feet, racing off the second they gained traction. Veering, skidding, and sliding around every corner. Armin halted, his friends skittering behind him. _

_ "Armin! What the heck are you sta-" The brunette stopped short, both in her scolding and in her tracks. Steam. Outside the wall, it billowed into the once calm air. Worst of all, a giant hand clutched to the top, its sinewy fingers digging into the rock. _

_ "It…It can't be-!" Armin's voice sounded behind her, terror reverberating in his tone. A chill went down her spine. That wall is fifty meters high. It was one of __**them**__. A titan. _

_ A titan has broken through the wall._

* * *

**_Present Day; Year 850_**

That was five years ago, that fateful day. A day, that most would rather not remember, and a day that some can't forget. "We have paid the price for one-hundred years of peace with tragedy. Given our sense of the danger at the time, we were ill-prepared to cope with the sudden appearance of a 'Colossal-Sized Titan'…" The corporal droned on, his monotonous voice carrying throughout the relatively small plaza, hundreds of trainees standing to attention in row after row. Soon enough, his practiced speech ended, an annoyed sigh escaping him. He loathed his job, it was obvious. Though, wouldn't anyone? Having to watch hundreds of people, children at that, having to choose which life-ending branch they want to spend the remainder of their undoubtedly short lives in? It was enough to break a person. His throat cleared, a paper gripped firmly in front of him. "Today, you have completed your military training. I will now announce ten among you who have obtained the top training results. Come forward if I call your name."

"At the head of the class, Mikasa Ackerman. Second, Reiner Braun. Number three, Bertolt Hoover. Number four, Annie Leonhart. Number five, Eren Yeager. Number six, Jean Kirstein. Number seven, Marco Bott. Number eight, Connie Springer. Number nine, Sasha Blouse. And number ten, Krista Lenz." For each name that left his thin lips, a teen stepped forward. "You are the top ten." These words didn't seem to faze them. The tight-lipped teens stared straight ahead, chins held high as their superior continued. "Now that you've completed your training, you have three choices."

The Garrison; which reinforces the wall, therefore protecting all of the towns… The Survey Corps; prepared to sacrifice their lives outside the wall by defying the titans in their own domain… The Military Police Brigade; which exercises control over the king's subjects and maintains order. All undeniably awful choices, risking your life in two regimens or working under irresponsible, self-centered scum. Eren Yeager, placing number five in her class, had already made her choice. Thereby deciding Armin and Mikasa's as well. Survey Corps; going beyond the wall, going face to face with those monsters. '_I finally made it…_' The teen's mind hummed, her bright irises seeming to dance around her pupil, though her body remained statue still. '_Next time, it's gonna be __**our**__ turn.' _ On droned the soldier, his dull eyes scanning over the recruits. '_Next time, the humans…will devour the titans!' _Her mind sang; pearly white teeth clenching together as she refocused on her superior's spiel, only to hear him bellowing their dismissal, shortly followed by hundreds of graduates saluting respectfully.

Dozens of voices roared in the mess hall, several conversations combined creating a dull hum. Some were celebrating, some were sulking, and some were simply relieved to not be in the fields pulling weeds. "Yeah, well, we already know what ranks I'm joining." Eren said with a smile, biting her bread as she glanced between her friends, noting their disapproving looks.

Armin cleared his throat, "Anyway, congratulations on getting in the top ten. Both of you." He said lightly, his mouth twitching into a small smile as his spoon ran around his thick soup absently. Although his high scores in academics, he wasn't in the top ten. The raven haired girl across from him grinned, her mouth opening to presumably thank him, until a group of cadets became louder in their discussion. The Military Police Brigade, ones who would live inside Wall Shina comfortable for the rest of their lives. That was their choice, whether or not it was the right one was debatable.

"You said the interior is comfortable…?" Questioned the petite brunette, her lithe hands clenching beneath the table. "Until five years ago _this_ town was part of the interior, too." The blonde looked back at her, eyes narrowed and menacing. She didn't back down. "Jean, you don't have to go to the interior. I mean, isn't the interior of your brain soft enough for you?" Eren's voiced chimed out, the dull roar of conversation slowing to a halt.

"Eren. Don't." Her adoptive sister murmured behind her, her tone complacent, like that of a parent who dealt with her difficult child's nonsense daily. Which, she almost was. That was the role she had taken on. Jean leaned forward in his seat, one arm slung over the back as he glared at the mouthy girl.

"Are you trying to say, that I'm an idiot, Eren?" He blinked his dull eyes, his jaw tightening. "Because I'm not, I'm looking at reality, more than anyone else. Four years ago, twenty percent of the human population was sent out to recover territory stolen by the titans. An all-out attack was launched…and most of them ended up going straight to the stomachs of the titans, swallowed whole. What percent would have had to be added then to reclaim our land? For every one of them that we fell an average of thirty of our humans died. However, the number of titans who dominate this planet is a lot more than 1/30th of the human race." Jean paused, glancing up at the small brown haired girl as she stood. "I think it's crystal clear. Humanity…doesn't stand a chance against the titans." The hall was completely silent. The only sound was the unified breathing, as if the building was alive, and that was its own breath. Jean sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Look, it's like I funeral in here, thanks to you."

"And so-?" Eren pressed, her arms crossed over her chest. "So what you're saying is, 'I don't think we can win, so I'm giving up.'" Her thin brows rose as she let that sink in. As Jean kicked away from his chair; his face in such a close proximity to hers, she started contemplating was toothpaste he used. His teeth were bared, like a cornered animal, even though her back was pressed against the wall. "Tch," she made a sound of disgust, "pain in the ass." That did it. His fist flew at her face, his features contorted into a mask of what looked like an angered horse. Skin against skin, fists flying at one another's face, and the excited murmurs of all of their onlookers. Jean's clenched hand cracked against her forearm. Her knee made its way into his side as they continued to argue. The short haired teen coughed as he drew back his arm, throwing it forward as she ducked beneath it and jabbing her fist into his stomach.

Someone in the crowd, presumably Reiner, spoke up. "Hey! That's enough! Jean, did you forget what Eren's hand-to-hand combat score was?!" Another fist flew at the girl's face as she skittered backwards, "It was the top of our class!" She darted forward, arm cocked back like a gun with a loose trigger, ready to blow in a seconds notice. Just as the deafening blow jacked forward, her small body was lifted off the ground, familiar hands supporting her waist.

"Mikasa?!" Eren hissed, her body squirming as she was carried from the mess hall, the building alighted with murmurs once again, "Hey! Put me down!" She cried uselessly, her bright emeralds burning at the red-faced dunce.

"You're lucky, Eren! Having Mikasa carry you around like that!" He called as his inebriated friends gather around him. "I bet you're planning on dragging her into the Survey Corps just the same way!" Her lips pressed together as they disappeared behind the dining hall's doors, clattering shut with a bang as she was dropped onto the hard wood that was the porch. She glared at her sister in silence, turning to sit on the stairs.

As the top cadet sat beside her, she sighed, side-glancing her pale face. "About what he said…what branch do you want to enlist in.?"

A breeze blew their hair into a tangled whirlwind, "I'm joining the Survey Corps."

"You were at the head of our class; apply for the Military Police Brigade!" At her sister's solemn look, she continued, lowering her voice. "They're calling you the most talented person, who's ever been through training, I'm sure you'd get special treatment."

"If you join the Military Police Brigade, then so will I. If you join the Garrison, I'll do the same. Without me around, you'll die an early death."

"I'm not asking you to stick with me, how long do you intend to keep this up?"

"As long as we live…I died once and was restored to life, I won't forget that debt." She licked her peach-pale lips as she tugged on her crimson scarf, pulling it over her nose. "…but more than anything…I don't want to lose any more family."


End file.
